In this article, we’ll be discussing discovering ways how to generate event leads. Hosting an event? Want pouring attendees and visitors? Need leads to attend your event? You’re at the right place! Continue reading to find out the ideas. 

What is an “Event Lead?”

Event leads are the leads that are gathered prior to an event to sort out the attendees or visitors. Here the guests are segmented according to the type of event. For example; if the event is an educational seminar then the targetted guests will be students.

8 Ways To Generate Event Leads: 

• Have an up-to-date website

• Use social media

• Use Google AdWords

• Target prospective bookings with email marketing

• Pick up the phone

• Motivate Attendees to Visit Your Booth or Book a Meeting

• Enrich Your Post-Show Leads

• Launch a Follow-Up Campaign

Have An Up-To-Date Website:

This may sound self-evident, but if your website is outdated, you may be losing a large number of customers because event organizers do not spend much time on outdated websites. They either fall in love at first sight or bounce. Make it quite clear that you participate in events.

On the homepage, include a bold call to action button that reads something like “Book your event here,” as well as a Request For Proposal (RFP) lead form that event planners can fill out with their chosen date, type of event, number of attendees, and other information.

Don’t ask for too much information, as this will annoy you. Filling out an endless webpage of blank spaces or checkboxes will annoy your prospects and they will leave your website mid-form.

Use Social Media To Generate Event Leads:

Use Facebook and Instagram ads to your advantage. Create an inviting and informative presence and begin to increase your fan base. Start publishing every day, whether it’s photographs of your event space and food or content that’s engaging and relevant to your follower.

Put up the list of activities that are going to be in the event on your social media. Lure your guests to your event by providing them all the relevant information regarding your event.

Use Google AdWords To Generate Event Leads:

Google AdWords may seem complicated to set up, but, the good news is that it is easy to do. Take a brief tutorial on AdWords and you will be up and running in no time. AdWords work and they can drive target leads to you in a hurry. 

If AdWords is too intimidating, you can always use ad word experts like OneIMS to set it up and monitor your AdWords.

Target Prospective Bookings With Email Marketing To Generate Event Leads:

You probably already have your customer’s email addresses, so your current clients have already established a relationship with you, marketing to them is the simplest approach to generating new business. 

Don’t wait until the holidays to send them an email. Send pertinent information to your customers about your venue, event space, current event packages, deadlines, available dates, and anything else they need to know to schedule an event. In every email you send, include a link to your lead form.

Pick Up The Phone:

No one enjoys making cold calls, and I mean no one. Cold calls, on the other hand, are effective. A simple call to check in and let your prospects know you’re thinking of them and wanted to let them know what’s new with your venue can go a long way. Because most event planners do not do cold calls, you will stand out — in a good way. 

It will show that you care about your guests and you will also be nurturing your leads too!

Motivate Attendees To Visit Your Booth or Book a Meeting:

Whether you’re roaming the floor or setting up a booth, the goal is the same: to book a meeting or demo.

Set a concrete target of a certain number of prospects to engage or badges to scan and stay focused on meeting it in the midst of the hustle and bustle of a trade show.

• If you’re walking the event:

  If you’re not tethered to a booth, grab your list of leads and look at the event map. Circle the booths of your prospects and plot out a path on the event map. Knowing the layout and schedule is an advantage because it gives you time to strategize ways to drive engagement back to your own booth or team members. Additionally, having an idea of how the event will run can give you insight into the best time to schedule meetings with contacts prior to the show.

• If you have a booth:

  Of course, you want a lot of traffic to your booth, so here’s where you can spend a little money. You can give away raffle tickets for a high-ticket electronics item like an iPad or fitness tracker. Other good options are discount codes, product offers, and of course, company swag. This incentivizes people to stop by your booth but limits your spending. You still want a lot of activity around your booth, even if not everyone is a good-fit prospect. Make sure that whoever is staffing the booth has a list of your prioritized accounts. When people approach your booth and introduce themselves, check to see if their company is on your list.

If it is, you’ve got your lead – or at least a foot in the door!

Enrich Your Post-Show Leads:

Scans of business cards and badges don’t always tell the complete story. The event may be over, but your work isn’t.

You now have two groups of contacts: 

1) Those who were on your priority list from the start and with whom you were able to make contact at the show; and

2) New names.

You’ll get a lot of rubbish phone numbers and titles for the list of new names because participants aren’t required to input proper information for a badge scan. Details on business cards are usually reliable, though it’s not a lot of information.

Pro Tip:

No business card? No problem! Screenshot their LinkedIn profile to remember this new contact. Also – take detailed notes on a person’s business card for personalized follow-up.

So, after the show, clean and enhance the lead data to guarantee your prospect is a good fit and you’re not wasting your time: industry, company size, department budget, tech stack, and any scheduled projects are all fantastic data points to ensure your prospect is a good fit and you’re not wasting your time.

You can also try to match prospects to current accounts in your CRM, hire an outside research team to enrich the data, or conduct your own online research.

Launch A Follow-Up Campaign:

The prospecting frenzy is now over. That does not imply that you are prepared to call it in. As crucial as preparation and attendance are post-trade show operations.

It’s possible – even likely – that the person you met at the event isn’t the decision-maker for your product, no matter how fantastic a prospect account is. And if you were able to engage with decision-makers at the exhibition, that’s even better!

In any case, there are a lot more individual contributors than higher management at events (who actually have the ability to sign the dotted line and spend money on your solution).

But first, take a big breath and step back to allow your prospects some breathing room.

Use this time to create a spreadsheet with your new leads, including the specific information you acquired.

Then it’s time to give them a call. Remind them of your meeting and conversation, and ask for a demo. If your research reveals that the names you got are not actually in a buying position – that’s OK too! Call or email and ask for a referral to a decision-maker.

You can work through your new list of prospects and begin contacting them with their unique subject lines or follow-up phone calls.

To Wrap It Up:

We have covered 8 ideas that will help you get event leads. You can take this article as a guide for your next event lead generation. We hope it was helpful to you. 

Thank you for reading and being with us!